Why did Heat target Ryan Conwell, trade up for him in second round? ‘He’s a scorer. He can shoot’
When Mami Heat brass met before the start of the second round on Wednesday, they made a short list of draft prospects still available who stood out above the rest.
The question was: Would any of those second-round targets still be available when it was the Heat’s turn to make a selection at No. 41 overall?
“We met today, went through the players that we wanted to focus on in the second round,” Heat vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager Adam Simon said late Wednesday night during a postdraft Zoom call. “We had them in a group of about seven players that we really were hoping that we could get at 41.”
Louisville three-point shooting guard Ryan Conwell was one of the seven players on the Heat’s list.
So when Conwell was still available at No. 37 — four picks before the Heat’s selection at No. 41 — Miami didn’t take any chances. The Heat dealt the 41st overall selection and cash to the Oklahoma City Thunder to take Conwell with the 37th overall pick in the second round on Wednesday.
“Once there was an opportunity to move up a couple spots, we took advantage of that opportunity,” Simon said. “Ownership gave us the opportunity to move up, so we appreciate them doing that. And we were able to make the trade with Oklahoma City.”
With the Heat’s first-round selection at No. 13 overall on Tuesday going to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of the trade that sent two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and veteran forward Bobby Portis to Miami, Conwell ended up being the Heat’s only draft pick this year.
But the Heat believes it made the most of its lone selection. The Heat is prioritizing three-point shooting as it fills out its roster around its new leading duo of three-time NBA All-Star center Bam Adebayo and Antetokounmpo, and three-point shooting is Conwell’s top NBA skill.
“Well, clearly we’re trying to identify players that have a shooting skill, and he certainly does,” said Simon, with the Heat and Bucks not yet allowed to comment on the Antetokounmpo trade until it can become official on July 6. “He’s projected overall as a 37% shooter, which would have been in the top percentile of 650 players that we had studied. And his athleticism is off the charts. He’s a competitor, he’s a gym rat, he’s the type of player I know our coaches are going to love, and he’s a great teammate. I think he’ll slot in perfectly.”
Conwell, who turned 22 on June 15, believes he’ll fit in perfectly with the Heat, too.
“I think my personality fits the culture of the team and I’ll fit right in with the other guys on the team,” Conwell said during a Zoom call with South Florida reporters on Wednesday. “Just my willingness to learn and grow each and every single day. And then I would say just my ability to space the floor, my shooting ability, being able to plug and place me anywhere on the floor and me just always having that gravity of just drawing some attention. And then just my competitiveness, just on both ends of the floor, just being a dog and just giving all I got defensively and offensively.”
Conwell (6-foot-2 and 215 pounds) averaged 18.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 40.8% from the field, 34.5% on threes and 83.2% from the foul line as a senior at Louisville last season. He averaged 9.6 three-point attempts per game last season.
Conwell made 38.4% of his 800-plus three-point attempts during his final three years in college, including 41.1% of his 567 catch-and-shoot threes, according to The Athletic.
“His processing is really high,” Simon said of Conwell. “His ability to learn, his cognition, abilities to see the game, to process the game, to have awareness, he graded out pretty high. That’s important to us. We want players that not only can be coached, but also can recognize and see things on their own. He’s the type of player that’s able to do that.
“He’s a scorer. He can shoot. He’s probably more of a scorer than point, but he’s a combo. He understands how to play, and he’s able to see things out there on the court that you don’t have to coach.”
Conwell doesn’t hesitate to put up threes either, taking nearly 10 three-pointers per game last season.
“He shoots with confidence. He’s not afraid,” Simon added. “What you want from a shooter is someone who might miss some shots, but not afraid to put up the next one. I don’t think he’s the type that worries about missing a few. He’s a confident shooter. He’ll be happy that, I think, coach [Erik Spoelstra] and our staff will give him the platform to be able to put up shots and not worry about missing. But he can get going. I think moving out to the NBA line won’t affect him. I think he’ll be able to get the space and be able to get his shot off in the NBA.”
Conwell also held his own as a point-of-attack defender at the college level, with the help of his sturdy frame. But he knows defending in the NBA will require continued improvement on that end of the court, especially at 6-foot-2.
“I would say in terms of my defense, I think it’s gotten progressively better every single year,” said Conwell, who was among the prospects who worked out for the Heat at Kaseya Center during the pre-draft process. “Just with the coaches I’ve been able to play with and the positions I’ve been placed in. Especially at Louisville, just making that big jump, picking up full court, just being a dog, being scrappy, getting through screens, just everything like that. I’m always willing just to get better, especially on that end, every single day.
“So it’s something that I’m continuing to get better at. I think that I am a good defender. But obviously playing in the NBA, it’s the elite of the elite. And it’s something that I have to continue to keep growing at and really compete at, which I will.”
Conwell, who watched the draft from his hometown of Indianapolis, began his college career at South Florida before transferring to Indiana State for his sophomore season and Xavier for his junior season, and then closing his college career at Louisville. The driving force behind four different schools in four years for Conwell were coaching changes after each season.
Conwell believes his winding college journey will help him during his NBA journey.
“I definitely just learned a lot just from all the coaches in terms of just how to come to work every single day, just how to be able to play with a lot of different players, show my versatility, and then also just finding joy just in the process,” Conwell said. “Knowing that everything is not going to always go your way, but just trusting in the Lord’s timing and trusting in the work you put in the gym every single day. Things may happen, changes may happen. But as long as you stay true to who you are, and you continue to work as hard as you can, I’m a firm believer that it’ll all work out.”
Among the NBA players who Conwell likes to study are guards Jrue Holiday, Ajay Mitchell, Jalen Brunson, Stephen Curry and Devin Booker.
“The kid likes to work,” Simon said. “He likes to play. He likes to be in the gym. He likes to be a good teammate. I think he’s got a great base, and I think he’s going to want what we’re going to offer him in a development program, and hopefully he’ll be able to contribute to us in short time here.”
While second-round picks can be signed to two-way contracts or standard contracts, the Heat plans to invest a standard deal on Conwell and make him a part of its 15-man standard roster. The financial details of that standard deal are still being negotiated, but the investment in Conwell and his NBA potential is real.
“He’s 22 years old,” Simon said. “There’s still growth, there’s still upside. He’s a worker, he’s the kind of player we want to develop and work with. We think there’s a lot more room for him to grow.”
After Spoelstra and Heat president Pat Riley called Conwell to welcome him to Miami shortly after taking in the second round of the draft, Conwell made clear he’s well aware of the Heat’s highly-regarded player development program that he’s entering. From Duncan Robinson to Max Strus to Gabe Vincent, the Heat has had success in developing overlooked three-point shooters in recent years.
That development process will begin in a few days when the Heat begins summer league practices on Tuesday in San Francisco.
“I think I’m going to a great organization that will place me in the right positions to just progressively get better every single day,” Conwell said. “That’s something I’m willing to work toward and do. So I’m super grateful. I’m super thankful to be able to go to such a great organization as this. I truly think it’ll be a two-way street, and we’ll both buy in to make me the best player I can be.”
